Sen Byrd overtakes Sen. Thurmond's Record

[LadyTevar]

Love him or hate him, give him credit where it's due.

Byrd to set new record
Friday June 09, 2006

Sen. Robert C. Byrd shrugs at personal milestones.

He's often asked how he'll celebrate his latest landmark on Monday, when the 88-year-old white-haired wizard of the Constitution surpasses Strom Thurmond as the longest serving senator in U.S. history.

But if Byrd has it his way, the day will pass with little or no fanfare.

Byrd's feelings will be bittersweet -- June 12 also marks the birthday of his wife of 68 years, Erma, who died in March. She would have been 89.

"Her birthday is something I've always greatly honored," Byrd said Thursday. "I'll do the same thing. Love her. Remember her. Pray for her. Have a cup of coffee and then go work for West Virginia."

He likes his coffee with cream, no sugar.

He doesn't prefer any sugary additives in his politics, either.

Perhaps Byrd longs for the good old days of a less partisan Senate, where the debates were grandstanding yet genuine.

"The great debates we used to engage in, no one hears them anymore," said Byrd, the Democratic straight-talker from Sophia, a southern West Virginia town of 1,300.

"Politics has taken over."

On Monday, Byrd will have served 17,327 days in office.

He first sauntered into the upper chamber on Jan. 3, 1959, already in his 40s with a head of hair darker than Appalachian coal. Lyndon B. Johnson, the Senate majority leader who later became president, accompanied Byrd to his seat.

Certainly, 1959 was a different stage, domestically and globally, confronting the nation.

In pop culture, the Barbie doll debuted, as did the classic sci-fi television hit "Twilight Zone." Blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe turned heads in the acclaimed "Some Like It Hot" in 1959, and the country would lose gifted musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash.

The sociological face of America has changed, but Byrd hasn't.

His nose remains at the grindstone, and he doesn't have time for what he deems frivolous country club hobbies like golf and tennis. He claims to have never played either sport.

"I continue to read," Byrd said. "I continue to think about the Senate and keep myself deeply involved, whether we're in session or not. I think of my family and tend to think in terms of, ‘What are my duties?' "

He probably would still be jazzing colleagues and constituents with his fiddle-playing flair, but a tremor affecting his hands forced him to give up the pastime years ago.

As a "child of the Appalachian coalfields," Byrd played the fiddle in various square dance bands. He used his musicianship to awe crowds during his rise in politics and even recorded an album, "U.S. Senator Robert Byrd: Mountain Fiddler," in 1978. Byrd also performed once on "Hee Haw."

‘I know what I need to do'

While his verbal delivery remains as sharp as an eagle's claw, he requires the aid of two canes for walking.

Otherwise, Byrd contends he hasn't changed much.

"I may not be able to run a 100-yard dash," he said, "or even a 50-, 25- or 10-yard dash. But I still know what's going on here. I know what I need to do."

When he started, newspaper pages weren't filled with wars on terror and suicide bombings.

In recent years, Byrd has become a darling for outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. He's vehemently opposed the invasion and President Bush's foreign policies.

But in his early years the United States faced a different challenge, the Cold War, which involved political tactics and nuclear weapon proliferation rather than combat.

Any communist regime automatically became America's adversary, including southeastern island neighbor Cuba.

Fidel Castro gained control of Cuba as Byrd began settling into the senatorial grind. Castro's militia forces ousted the U.S.-backed Fulgencio Batista government and later turned the country into a socialist republic.

Tension heightened with the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis later in the ‘60s.

This second Red Scare, fueled by stanch anticommunist sentiment, signified the Soviet Union as Enemy No. 1.

Americans and Soviets battled on all levels, including space, where the United States was trailing. In 1959, the Soviet probe Luna 3 captured the first photos of the far side of the moon. Just a few weeks later, the United States would launch Explorer VII.

But much deadlier matters would arise elsewhere with another communist country, Vietnam. The first Americans were killed in combat there in 1959.

Sins of the past

At home, civil rights would emerge as a breaking point in American history, and Byrd's views at the time are still remembered and used as political fodder by his challengers.

Byrd has regretted actions such as his 14-hour, 13-minute filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He aligned himself with southern Democrats in saying the bill torpedoed federalism principles.

He later opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a measure designed to protect black voters.

But his southern conservative positions began to shift as he voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibits racial discrimination in selling and renting out dwellings.

"My outlook and attitude have changed on civil rights," Byrd said. "They sure have. But those civil rights debates were the great debates back in the early days."

Another criticism he has faced repeatedly during his career has been his long-ago affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan.

Byrd, a KKK member in the early 1940s, calls his membership a mistake of his youth. The Klan once served as a springboard for aspiring southern politicians, and Byrd has previously stated he was attracted to the group's strong opposition to communism.

He likes putting those days behind him. Now several leaders of minority persuasion like Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., praise Byrd's work for civil rights. Obama has even helped raise money for Byrd's political campaign.

Influence came quickly

Byrd's influence in the Senate developed quickly. He was appointed to the powerful Appropriations Committee as a freshman.

Byrd already had served three terms in the House of Representatives, and colleagues revered his political skills. Little did they know he would serve an astounding four decades as a senator.

"He was a great leader for the delegation," said Ken Hechler, 91, who was elected to the House when Byrd became a senator nearly a half-century ago.

"He organized a weekly breakfast for the House and Senate representation of West Virginia to unify our strength. At the time, we had six congressional members instead of three, and we'd talked about the issues that concerned us."

As a college instructor at Marshall University, Hechler first met Byrd in 1957 when he took students on a tour of the nation's Capitol.

Even then, Byrd was spouting inspirational lines from the Bible and various historical references. He also kept abreast of classic poetry.

"We were impressed with his ability to quote poetry at length," Hechler said. "It mesmerized a number of students."

Byrd and fellow Democrat Jennings Randolph ousted incumbent Republican senators Chapman Revercomb and John D. Hoblitzell Jr., respectively, in the 1958 election.

A Democratic movement was nudging along, as Americans were growing tired of Dwight Eisenhower's second term as president.

A focus on poverty

Byrd, Randolph, Hechler and newly elected House member John Slack, all Democrats, agreed upon taking office that West Virginia's economic plight was their most immediate problem.

An economic recession slammed America in 1957 and 1958, when unemployment rose to its highest level since 1941. Labor problems also emerged with 500,000 steelworkers going on strike for 116 days in 1959.

In one of their first pieces of legislation, Byrd and Randolph introduced a bill that increased the kinds and amounts of government foods distributed to the needy. The bill called for $200 million to be used over two years for the purchase of food to supplement commodities distributed to welfare recipients.

More than 300,000 West Virginians were on the surplus food list.

"He (Byrd) certainly demonstrated he was very close to the people," Hechler said. "I took that as one of the things that impressed everybody. I've met average people, folks who aren't in high positions, who tell me they've received a call from Sen. Byrd asking them what issues mattered to them."

While Byrd says he's no different now, Hechler has seen an evolution of the senator that has caused him to be seen as the walking encyclopedia of Congress, master of the filibuster and oratorical fire breather.

"Byrd's become much bolder in his outspokenness since those early days," recalls Hechler. "No question about it. He's clearly moved toward a centrist position and is far more outspoken on issues like foreign policy and his stance against President Bush and the war in Iraq."

Byrd says he's only doing what he was elected to do.

"Separating the powers is something I'm deeply interested in," Byrd said. "We pay too much deference to the president. He puts on his pants the same way I do, and he's a hired hand like I am. There are three branches of government, they're all equal, and legislators ought not forget that."

He says becoming the longest-serving senator is more of a reflection of West Virginians who have supported him through the years.

"It's the people's record," Byrd said. "I'm West Virginia's servant, West Virginia's boy, West Virginia's man and God's man. I can't think of a higher calling."

[Mayabird]

I'll probably have something serious to say in a moment, but first...

Before the day comes, Zombie Strom Thurmond will rise from his grave and engage Byrd in a battle to the death...or undeath...or however that works!

It will be a battle few will forget, for the simple fact that old men usually don't battle the zombies of even older dead men and not because of any extremely cool action. I mean, come on.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Damn, and here I was thinking it was the Filibuster record...

[Shark Bait]

I'll probably have something serious to say in a moment, but first...

Before the day comes, Zombie Strom Thurmond will rise from his grave and engage Byrd in a battle to the death...or undeath...or however that works!

It will be a battle few will forget, for the simple fact that old men usually don't battle the zombies of even older dead men and not because of any extremely cool action. I mean, come on.

Zombie strom thurmond running on the "BRAAAAAAAAAAINS" platform, you know i'd actually pay money to see that fight.

[LadyTevar]

After almost 48 years, Byrd's fire still burns
Democrat sets record for senatorial service

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Sen. George Smathers used to tell the story about how Robert C. Byrd had turned down a half-dozen invitations to join other senators in Florida for deep sea fishing or golf or gin rummy or tennis.

"I have never in my life played a game of cards. I have never had a golf club in my hand. I have never in life hit a tennis ball," Byrd told the Florida Democrat, according to an interview Smathers gave to a Senate historian.

"I don't do any of those things. I have only had to work all my life."

After almost 48 years in the Senate, Byrd is still working. On Monday, the West Virginia Democrat passed the late GOP Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina as the longest serving senator in history.

And Byrd is not finished.

Slowed by age and grief-stricken over the recent death of Erma, his wife of almost 69 years, Byrd still is running for an unprecedented ninth term. At 88, he uses two canes as he slowly makes his way around the Capitol. Yet he can thunder orations from the Senate floor.

"I can speak with fire because my convictions run deep," Byrd said in an hourlong interview in his Capitol office. "I'm not just an ordinary senator. I know it and you know it."

That uncharacteristic bit of immodesty came shortly after Byrd was asked whether he will be able to complete a full six-year term that would end when he is 95. When asked about his age and his stamina, Byrd bristles.

"Age has nothing to do with it except as it might affect one's strength, endurance and stamina. Age does not affect me except in my legs," Byrd said. "And I've got a head up here that hasn't changed one iota in the last 25 years."

From the coalfields of West Virginia
Byrd's improbable rise began in the coalfields of West Virginia. The adopted son of a miner, he grew up as poor as any American politician, living in a house without electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. His rise to the upper echelons of U.S. politics began in 1946 when, as a fiddle-playing butcher, he won a seat in the state's House of Delegates.

Within 12 years, Byrd had made his way through the West Virginia Senate and the U.S. House. He won election to the Senate in 1958. Dwight Eisenhower was president and it was a year after the Soviet Union beat the U.S. into space with Sputnik.

Eschewing the limelight to focus on the nuts and bolts of Senate business, Byrd quickly became an inside player. He did a lot of grunt work in junior leadership posts, focusing on little details that made his colleagues' lives easier: arranging times for votes and colleagues' floor speeches, and making sure their amendments got votes. He became majority leader -- the Senate's top post -- in 1977.

He admits to a few errors along the way.

Byrd participated in an unsuccessful filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. As a young man, he join the Ku Klux Klan, a mistake he has been saddled with since the early 1940's.

Byrd is a senator from another era. In an age where politics has long since been dominated by soundbites and snappy visuals, he cites Roman history, quotes from the Bible and reads poetry in his Senate speeches.

A fierce defender of the Senate
While young people today program I-pods and design home pages on MySpace.com, Byrd got Congress to require schools and colleges to teach about the Constitution every Sept. 17, the day the document was adopted in 1787. He always carries a copy in his breast pocket and gives each incoming freshman senator one, calling it the "greatest document of its kind."

Byrd also holds the Senate and its rules in reverence. He is quick to rebut attacks on filibusters that allow a minority of 41 senators to defeat legislation, or the ability of a senator to offer amendments on any topic to most bills.

"He is a fierce defender of the Senate and its prerogatives in ways that I think the founding fathers really intended the Senate to be," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts.

Particularly "at a time in which both its influence and its power are being usurped by the exaggerated view of the executive of its own powers," added Kennedy, whom Byrd ousted as the Democrats' whip in 1971 in his climb to power.

When Byrd first came to the Senate, he heeded the advice of Sen. Richard Russell, D-Georgia, to master those rules. He has used them to his advantage ever since.

The Senate, however, has seen much better days, according to Byrd. Partisan politics is now everything. Raising campaign cash is too time consuming. Workweeks are usually kept short, with votes on Fridays a rarity.

Today's senators would be left gasping at the paces Byrd put the Senate through when he ran it. Monday through Friday workweeks. Late-night votes. Fewer recesses. Byrd himself used to hold his weekly news conferences on Saturdays.

"I ran the Senate like a stern parent," Byrd wrote in his memoir published last year, "Child of the Appalachian Coalfields."

Byrd left his leadership post in 1989 to take the helm of the Appropriations Committee, where he turned on a federal spigot of new highways, water projects, federal buildings and job training centers for West Virginia. The largesse included moving a new FBI fingerprint identification center from Washington to Clarksburg, West Virginia, where it would eventually employ more than 2,300.

He earned a lot of criticism for being too greedy in directing taxpayer dollars to the Mountain State. Byrd makes no apologies.

"Naturally I was going to send some home to West Virginia. Proud of it," Byrd said. "The roads are there. People have walked up to me in motels all over the state -- they're people from other states -- they say, 'Senator, I admire your highways."'

Elections in 1994 and 2002 turned his beloved chairmanship over to Republicans. Byrd naturally has less clout and has to work within the clubby atmosphere on the Appropriations Committee to have an impact.

"He's not involved in as many fights as maybe he was before," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire. "But when he chooses to engage he has a significant impact."

A rising GOP challenge
Byrd has been a political institution in West Virginia for as long as anybody can remember. He has run 14 times and never lost. But with the state's drift toward the GOP column and with Byrd's advancing age, GOP leaders tried to recruit Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, a rising star, to run against him this year.

Polls had shown Byrd, who had cut back on travel to the state to tend to his ailing wife, vulnerable. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign ran an ad -- featuring an unflattering picture of Byrd -- attacking his voting record.

Byrd raised his profile in the state, lifting his poll numbers. Capito demurred, and Byrd's opponent is GOP businessman John Raese, who's well behind in the polls.

Still, Byrd's taking no chances, having raised more than $3.8 million, far more that any previous campaign.

Some of that support is coming from unlikely sources: Internet-based groups such as MoveOn.org, whose members contributed more than $800,000 to Byrd in less than three days during a fundraising blitz last year.

Byrd's unlikely rise as a darling of the liberal blogosphere came after he came out strongly against the war in Iraq. While prominent Senate Democrats such as 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry of Massachusetts, Hillary Clinton of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada voted to authorize the war, Byrd stood firm in opposition.

Now that public opinion on the war has shifted, Byrd feels gratified.

"The people are becoming more and more aware that we were hoodwinked, that the leaders of this country misrepresented or exaggerated the necessity for invading Iraq," Byrd said.

As for President Bush, Byrd was originally impressed with the Republican, the 11th president the West Virginian has served with since entering Congress in 1953. Not anymore. Tax cuts have drained the Treasury and the war is costing lives and money for domestic priorities.

"History still must render a verdict on him," Byrd said of Bush. "He started with great promise, I thought. I had great hopes for him. I liked the way he seemed to be humble, down to Earth. As time went on, of course, in my judgment he did not bear out my early hopes. I'll leave it at that."

June 12, 2006
‘The pillar of the Senate’
10 presidents later, Byrd longest-serving senator


Sen. Robert C. Byrd becomes the longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate today, having represented West Virginians for 17,327 days in the chamber.

Byrd began serving in the Senate more than 47 years ago, on Jan. 3, 1959, after spending six years in the House of Representatives and six years in the West Virginia Legislature.

He also has cast more votes by far than any member of the Senate: 17,662 times, as of last Friday.

“I consider him to be the pillar of the Senate,â€

[Comrade Tortoise]

Sorry Tev, but I cant not say it

http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pag ... ddroppings

[SirNitram]

Indeed. Lotsa pork.

On the other fork of the tongue, pork is going to happen. So I'd rather have Byrd's pork to his state, than, say, The Bridge To Nowhere from the Alaskan guy with the hissy fits.

Bonus: No hissy fits on Senate floor.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Oh, I know it is going to happen. Doesnt mean I have to like it

[LadyTevar]

Hey, it got the roads paved, and a bridge over New River Gorge, not to mention several nice interstates running thru the state bringing us dollars and tourists.